Building-blocks and mechanical bond therefor.



W. C. IVIUHLHAUSEN.

BUILDING BLD CKS AND MECHANICAL BOND THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE I. IQII.

fizwrzior William 61 Zhalwe'n. fly 7251524 Z5 Patented Mar. 4

Minesaegs WILLIAM c. munnnausnn,

or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BUILDING-BLOCKS AND MECHANICAL BOND THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1919.

Application filed June 1, 1917. Serial 110. 172,156.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. Mum HAUSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Klngs and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bullding-Blocks and Mechanical Bond Therefor,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buildin blocks or bricks adapted for use in buil mgs or other structuresor for toys; and the invention also relates to keys adapted to engage in keyways or grooves in the blocks for keyin the blocks together in the structure.

he object of the invention is generally to improve the construction of building blocks and keys therefor and the structures made therefrom.

Other objectsof the invention are to provide blocks and keys therefor which may be very conveniently manipulated for building purposes whether the blocks are of a large practicable size or of small size for toys.

These and other objects will appear as the description proceeds; and it is understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, showing, by way of example, one of many possible embodiments of the invention,-

Figure 1 is an outside elevation of a portion of a building made from my improved .blocks;

Fig. 2 is a plan partly in section of a portion of a wall;

Fig. 3' is an inside elevation of a portion of a wall;

Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the blocks;

Fig. 5 is a plan or bottom view of the block;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of a block; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the key.

The front face 10 of each block 11 is entirely free of keyways and may be provided with any desirable kind of surface.

The upper, lower, and end faces of the blocks are provided with transverse undercut upper and lower grooves or keyways 12 and end grooves or keyways 15, Fig. 6, which terminate near the front face 10 but extend entirely to the rear face 18 of the block. The upper and lower faces are also provided with longitudinal keyways 19 intersecting the keyways 12; while the end faces are provided with vertical keyways 20 intersecting the end keyways 15.

' The key 21 preferably is constructed of a piece of spring metal bent to form a dovetail portion and a pair of divergent edges 24 forming another dove-tail portion, the dovetail portions being adapted to dove-tail in the under-cut grooves. The elasticity of the key permits the ready insertion of the key and holds the key firmly in place after it is inserted. The keys may be made of various lengths, longer and shorter than, and of the same length as the blocks. The keys, 21, when the blocks are used as toy building blocks are removably inserted.

The blocks are also each provided with a groove 25 extending transversely of a key- Way 12, and a rib 26 correspondin to the roove 25 extending transversely of the other (er-way 12; in other words, each block has a groove 25 and a rib 26 on its opposing side faces. The grooves 25 and ribs 26 of adjacent blocks register with one another and thus aline the blocks in place before inserting the key 21, and after the keys 21 are inserted in the key-Ways 12 and 15, these grooves and ribs cooperate with the keys 21 and the key-ways 12 and 15 to anchor the blocks of a single wall to one another in all directions.

The blocks are placed one upon the other and end to end and keyed together by inserting keys in the longitudinal and vertical grooves or keyways as the wall is built. The transverse keys may be inserted after the wall is built or while it is being built, as desired. It is'noted, however, that it may not always be desirable to insert keys in all of the grooves or keyways, and that some of the keys must be short when inserted-in grooves or keyways that intersect grooves or keyways in which keys are already inserted.

By the use of my improved blocks and keys, temporary walls may be built and taken down; or the blocks may be laid in mortar or cement. When keys are omitted the grooves may be filled with mortar or some of them may be employed as air spaces.

I claim:

1. In combination, a plurality of blocks, there beinghdovetailed key-ways in the ends and sides t ereof extending perpendicularly to the front and rear faces of said blocks, the key-ways in the adjacent faces of blocks opposing one another, there bein a groove in one side of each block exten mg transversely of the key-way in said side, a rib in the other side of each block registering with the groove of an adjacent bloc and spring sheet metal keys each engaging the key-Ways of adjacent faces of blocks to anchor such faces to one another, each key extending through the key-ways of a plurality of alined adjacent blocks.

2. In combination, a plurality of blocks, there being dovetailed key-Ways in the faces of said blocks, there being a groove in one side of each block extending transversely of the key-way in said side, and a rib in the other side of said block registering with the groove of an adjacent block, and spring 15 metal keys each engaging the key-ways of adjacent faces of blocks to anchor such faces to one another, each key extending through the vkey-ways of a plurality of alined adjacent blocks.

WILLIAM C. MUI-ILHAUSEN. Witnesses: H. M. KILPA'I'RICK, H. D. PENNEY. 

